Working with technology, you can never truly be an expert as the field is continuously expanding and improving. Recently, Francesco Rulli, Global CEO of Querlo, spoke with Sol Rashidi, Global Chief Data and Analytics Officer at Merck Commercial, about the role of a Cognitive Officer.
Sol previously worked in managing and consulting at IBM and ADY, was Chief Cognitive Officer at Royal Caribbean, and Chief Data Officer at Sony Music. As the current Global Chief Data and Analytics Officer at Merck Commercial, she owes her career to IBM as she was able to learn about different enterprise’s needs and ways to handle solutions.
A Cognitive Officer means different things for different industries and companies. However, Sol described their role as being the person who figures out how to leverage technology for exponential gains, teaches the art of possible, and has an element of storytelling. A Cognitive Officer must be able to bring business and IT together to create a common vision for the future of a business. When working with technology, there is a lot of trial and error, but Sol discussed how the Cognitive Officer must be a source of reassurance. In addition, they must promote the idea that rather than doing something for the sake of doing something, let’s do something because we think it’s going to have an impact. And in order to have an impact, we have to come in without any biases.
